Lakeside's efforts to advance a new fund for preserving rental housing in Rogers Park and the Sweet Home Coalition's efforts for comprehensive reform of the way tax increment financing supports affordable housing both got a boost in city council.

Lakeside CDC has been working since April 2009 to develop a new fund for preserving affordable rental housing in Rogers Park. The fund operates by utilizing tax increment financing to generate funds, which can then be returned in the form of grants to landlords for capital improvement projects in their buildings. In exchange, the property owner is required to commit to maintaining affordable rents in his or her building for at least 10 years. A recapture agreement would be executed and the entire process would be subject to community oversight and accountability. A more detailed description of the 49th Ward Rental Improvement Fund can be found on Lakeside's website.

In June of 2009, Alderman Joe Moore embraced the idea and committed to creating the fund in the 49th ward. The fund, now known as the 49th Ward Rental Improvement Fund, received a boost when the City of Chicago Department of Community Development gave its approval for advocates to initiate an eligibility study, which would be used to determine whether the proposed fund meets the state standards for a new TIF, as well as how much money the fund might generate and for what appropriate purposes. While this is not an endorsement, the city's position allows Lakeside and Northside P.O.W.E.R., co-organizers of the fund, to move ahead. Alderman Moore publicly recognized the department's leadership in a resolution delivered on the floor of Chicago City Council at the March 10 meeting.

At the same meeting, hundreds of community residents showed up to witness the introduction of an ordinance by Alderman Walter Burnett (27), which would require that 20% of all existing and future TIF revenues be made available to assist in the preservation and creation of affordable housing. The proposed ordinance, which included 13 co-sponsors, would set targets to ensure units would be affordable to households at a range of incomes, not simply those at the upper bounds for what is considered affordable. The ordinance is the product of the Sweet Home Chicago Coalition, which includes Lakeside CDC among its supporters.